For the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, the statistics only underlined the obvious.

"These incredible figures prove that London is without doubt the greatest city on the planet," he said.

"With so many fascinating museums, the best theater scene in the world, more green space than any other European city, numerous top sporting venues, a low crime rate and much else besides, it's no wonder that people from all over the globe are flocking to London in record numbers."

A long, hot summer, Andy Murray's Wimbledon win, the birth of Prince George and blockbuster West Ends shows including "The Book of Mormon" were put forward as potential reasons for the surge in tourist numbers, along with the legacy of the Olympics from the year before.

Top London attractions such as the Tower of London and St. Paul's Cathedral said visitor numbers were "through the roof" last summer, with an increase of 17% on 2012, the London Evening Standard reported.

St. Paul's welcomed 353,463 visitors between May and August, up by almost half on 2012.

Other figures, her office said, revealed Paris still to be beating the sprawling, unsophisticated pretender over La Manche when it comes to pulling in tourists.

Indeed, London is in some ways just a "suburb" of the far more attractive French capital, she told reporters.

Paris 'still No. 1'

"Like it or not, while London may have attracted more visitors around the Olympic Games, Paris remains the number one world tourist destination, even if we only include foreign visitors and not national ones," Hidalgo said.

London was "boastful" about its strengths, even deceptive, whereas the French were "rational" in their self assessments.

"London aggressively sells itself ... in a way that goes beyond the truth. We are more rational in our communication when speaking about Paris's strengths," Hidalgo said.

In 2012, 29 million domestic and foreign tourists visited the wider city of Paris, Hidalgo's office said.